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Belfast Noir (Northern Ireland)

Edited by: Adrian McKinty and Stuart Neville

Lee Child, Eoin McNamee, and others join previous entries London Noir and Dublin Noir in exploring the darkest corners of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

What people are saying…

“The works are short, allowing readers to savor each snippet or devour the entire compelling book in a day, depending on just how deliciously gloomy they’re feeling.”
—Shelf Awareness, Starred review

“All the stories are compelling and well executed . . . Great writing for fans of noir and short stories, with some tales close to perfection.”
—Library Journal, Starred review

“[Belfast Noir] zooms in on Northern Ireland’s capital city, whose history surely more than qualifies it as a breeding ground for noir.”
—Booklist

“The choices made by editors McKinty and Neville celebrate lowlifes, convicts, hookers, private eyes, cops and reporters, and, above all, the gray city at the heart of each story.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Belfast, with its bleak, murderous history, at last gets an entry in Akashic’s acclaimed noir series.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Belfast Noir is one of the strongest entries in Akashic’s admirable City Noir series. . . . all [stories] are of exceptional quality. Anyone with a fondness for noir, an interest in the past, in contemporary Irish writing, or simply an appreciation of excellent prose should snap this one up.”
—Reviewing the Evidence

“Singapore Noir, like Belfast Noir, once again proves that Akashic Books’ noir series is better than any travel guide.”
—MysteryPeople

“Belfast Noir equals the high standards set by its predecessors.”
—Book Chase

“Impossibly hard to put down . . . Belfast shows its true colors (ie bloodstainds) in this gritty collection.”
—Barbarian Librarian

“It’s almost like visiting [Belfast].”
—Journey of a Bookseller

“A terrific collection.”
—Escape Into Life

“I was blown away with what I read. . . This is a great anthology of modern-day noir.”
—Mom Read It

Description

Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each story is set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book.

Brand-new stories by: Glenn Patterson, Eoin McNamee, Garbhan Downey, Lee Child, Alex Barclay, Brian McGilloway, Ian McDonald, Arlene Hunt, Ruth Dudley Edwards, Claire McGowan, Steve Cavanagh, Lucy Caldwell, Sam Millar, and Gerard Brennan.

From the introduction by Adrian McKinty & Stuart Neville:

“Few European cities have had as disturbed and violent a history as Belfast over the last half-century. For much of that time the Troubles (1968–1998) dominated life in Ireland’s second-biggest population centre, and during the darkest days of the conflict—in the 1970s and 1980s—riots, bombings, and indiscriminate shootings were tragically commonplace. The British army patrolled the streets in armoured vehicles and civilians were searched for guns and explosives before they were allowed entry into the shopping district of the city centre . . . Belfast is still a city divided . . .

You can see Belfast’s bloodstains up close and personal. This is the city that gave the world its worst ever maritime disaster, and turned it into a tourist attraction; similarly, we are perversely proud of our thousands of murders, our wounds constantly on display. You want noir? How about a painting the size of a house, a portrait of a man known to have murdered at least a dozen human beings in cold blood? Or a similar house-sized gable painting of a zombie marching across a postapocalyptic wasteland with an AK-47 over the legend UVF: Prepared for Peace—Ready for War. As Lee Child has said, Belfast is still ‘the most noir place on earth.'”

Read a feature on Stuart Neville, Adrian McKinty, and Lee Child at the Wall Street Journal.

Listen to an interview with editors Stuart Neville and Adrian McKinty at RTÉ Arts Radio.

Listen to an interview with co-editor Adrian McKinty at World at One (BBC Radio 4).

Table of Contents

Introduction

Foreword by David Torrans

Part I: City of Ghosts
“The Undertaking” by Brian McGilloway (Roselawn)
“Poison” by Lucy Caldwell (Dundonald)
“Wet with Rain” by Lee Child (Great Victoria Street)
“Taking It Serious” by Ruth Dudley Edwards (Falls Road)

Part II: City of Walls
“Ligature” by Gerard Brennan (Hydebank)
“Belfast Punk REP” by Glenn Patterson (Ann Street)
“The Reservoir” by Ian McDonald (Holywood)

Part III: City of Commerce
“The Grey” by Steve Cavanagh (Laganside, Queens Island)
“Rosie Grant’s Finger” by Claire McGowan (Titanic Quarter)
“Out of Time” by Sam Millar (Hill Street)
“Die Like a Rat” by Garbhan Downey (Malone Road)

Part IV: Brave New City
“Corpse Flowers” by Eoin McNamee (Ormeau Embankment)
“Pure Game” by Arlene Hunt (Sydenham)
“The Reveller” by Alex Barclay (Shore Road)

Book Details

Paperback: 256 pages
Published: 11/4/14
IBSN: 9781617752919
e-IBSN: 9781617753237

Genre: Fiction

Authors

ADRIAN McKINTY was born and grew up in the North Belfast suburban town of Carrickfergus. His first crime novel, Dead I Well May Be, was short-listed for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award. His novel about a Belfast-based detective in the Royal Ulster Constabulary, The Cold Cold Ground, won the 2013 Spinetingler Award. Its sequel, I Hear the Sirens in the Street, was short-listed for the Ned Kelly Award. He is the coeditor, with Stuart Neville, of Belfast Noir.

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STUART NEVILLE’s debut novel, The Ghosts of Belfast (published in the UK as The Twelve), won the Mystery/Thriller category of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and was picked as one of the top crime novels of 2009 by both the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. His subsequent three novels have been short-listed for various awards, including the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award. The French edition of The Ghosts of Belfast, Les Fantômes de Belfast, won Le Prix Mystère de la Critique du Meilleur Roman Étranger and Grand Prix du Roman Noir Étranger. He is the coeditor, with Adrian McKinty, of Belfast Noir.